Chapter Text
Fushigruo Megumi realized that there are many adversaries in the world the moment he had been dropped off at this dump at only four years old. That was two years ago, when his father brought him and his sister here and never looked back. Megumi didn’t linger on it though, as he had become accustomed to the orphanage. Not necessarily in a good way, but he found his way around, and as long as he had his sister with him, he knew everything would be okay.
As it turns out, things were a little less than okay. A couple months ago Tsumiki became bedridden, Megumi would often check on her, he could tell she wasn’t getting the proper medical care. She looked pale and was quite weak, but he did his best to help her. Megumi felt like everything was in slow motion, the older kids would pick on him. The chores were grueling, they made him sore, and the smell of bleach clung to his skin by the end of the day.
The rundown private school he attended was miserable. It was dusty, covered in mold and the awful smell gave him a headache. In all honesty, he had begun to lose hope. It felt as if each week a new kid was adopted, he didn’t understand why he wouldn’t get picked. Was there something wrong with the way he looked? Was he incapable of being loved? The same questions echoed through his head every night as he crawled into his small, rickety bed and silently cried.
-
A year had passed since Tsumiki got sick, and she had only become worse. Megumi was seven now, and didn’t have the desire for anything. Even his desire to be adopted was washed away like a shell on the beach. But he had learned to read, which was his escape from reality.
He was pretty sure he would be here in this hell for the rest of his life.
It was a cycle: he would wake up, he would barely eat because “is this shit even edible?” (swearing was prohibited…that was not a good day for him) he would go to the useless classes, check on Tsumiki, crawl in bed and cry. It was like that every single day. Until one random Saturday.
With the tiny amount of free time he had on weekends, Megumi had been sitting on the bed reading his book, all the other kids were out playing so the rest of the beds were empty and the room was quiet. It was perfect.
Then the door creaked open. Megumi looked up from his book. In the middle of the doorway stood a boy with brown eyes and pink hair, the type of pink you see when you think of bubblegum. With a small bag slung over his shoulder. He stood out. Megumi furrowed his brows. “Who are you?” he asked, setting the book down completely.
The boy looked around as if to make sure Megumi was talking to him directly, then shrugged before stepping forward.“Hey! I'm Itadori Yuuji!” he exclaimed, throwing up a hand to wave, a wide grin spread across his face. “I just got here, the mean lady downstairs told me to come up here and pick my bed… mind telling me which one is free?”
There were three free beds in this room, one to the right of Megumi's bed, and one to the left. There was also one all the way in the far left corner. Megumi knew the boy would end up picking the corner so he pointed.
But Yuuji just stood there, a frown on his face. “Any other options?” he sounded concerned. Megumi was getting annoyed
“Why?” he pressed.
Yuuji fidgeted with his hands, his ears a bright pink, “promise you won't laugh at me?” Megumi stared at the boy, confused, until he offered a sheepish grin and rubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m scared of the dark, and that bed looks scary.” His voice was low, maybe even embarrassed, but Megumi didn’t laugh, if anything he understood.
“Either of these two are free.” Megumi said, pointing to his left and right. Yuuji's eyes widened.
“Alright!!” he yelled as he jumped onto the left bed. He set his bag on the bed, then turned around suddenly. “Hey! You never told me your name.”
Megumi blinked, hesitating for a moment. “It's Fushiguro.”
Yuuji's face contorted into annoyance as his shoulders slumped. “Cmonn.” he whined.
“Gee, you're really pushy, you know that?” Megumi sighed and Yuuji just sat there with an expectant look. “Fushiguro Megumi,” he conceded.
Yuuji turned his head. “I like that name!” Megumi mumbled a sheepish thanks as he picked up his book again, but he found that he couldn’t focus on anything he was reading. The boy to his left hadn’t said anything, hadn’t moved. Megumi looked over, Yuuji was staring wide eyed at the book.
“Whats your problem?” Megumi snapped.
Yuuji's eyebrows shot up to his hairline, “Oh, nothing, I just thought your book looked cool! What's it about?” In all the time that Megumi had been here, never once had anyone asked him that.This was new to him, in fact he wanted to tell the pink haired boy to mind his business, but someone having found interest in what he was up to was surprisingly irresistible.
“It's about bugs…” he stated hesitantly. Megumi waited for the typical reaction, a face of pure disgust, followed by a “yuck!” or “gross!” but instead, Yuuji shot up “Woah!” He was sitting on the edge of the bed now. “Are there any pictures?”
This was weird. Super weird. Why wasn't he disgusted by him? “Yeah…” his voice held obvious concern, but Yuuji didn’t seem to notice as he asked “Can I see?”
Megumi contemplated for a good moment, he wasn’t used to anyone being so invested in what he enjoyed, or in him at all. Aside from Tsumiki.
He scooted over as much as he could without falling off the tiny bed, he waved over, and yuuji eagerly hopped off his bed and onto Megumi’s. There was the sound of the springs adjusting to the weight of both the boys. Megumi was tense, the unfamiliarity of it all, was almost too much.
He could feel Yuuji's warm, stuffy breath on his neck. “Show me, please.” His voice was a whisper. Megumi exhaled as he opened the book he had read at least a hundred times.
Megumi started with the basics, pointing to the picture at the top left corner “That’s a monarch.”
Yuuji looked at him with those curious caramel eyes. “Monarch?” He repeated.
Megumi sighed “A butterfly.”
Yuuji smiled “Yeah I know that, silly. But why's it called that?”
Megumi shot him a glare. “You ask too many questions.”
But he was willing to answer those questions. He explained that they were admired for their size, and that their colors are viewed as royal. The boys stayed like that for a while, Megumi described various insects, Yuuji asked many questions, but Megumi found that he liked answering them. Yuuji seemed to be full of jokes and giggles, at some point he even managed to get Megumi to crack a smile.
But eventually it had to come to an end, Megumi could hear the stampede of children rushing in as they were called in for dinner. “We’ll have to go down and eat too.” Megumi mumbled, closing the book softly. “Aw man, I was having fun.” Megumi's brows knitted
“You were?”
Yuuji grinned, nodding his head eagerly.“You’re really, super good at explaining things Fushiguro.” Megumi crawled under the bed to set the book down where he always put it. “‘Really’ and ‘super good’ in the same sentence?” Megumi hummed. Yuuji blinked as he stood up. “What?”
Megumi shrugged. “Nothing, come on.” He fought back a smile as he led the way downstairs. The amount of time he had spent with Yuuji was very minimal, but he was starting to grow fond of the boy.There were very few people he liked.
As they walked down the creaky wooden stairs, Yuuji slipped and almost fell. Megumi caught him by the collar of his shirt. “Itadori, be careful.” he barked. Yuuji wiped his palms on his jeans, leaning against the railing.
“Sorry sorry, I'm just excited.”
Megumi squinted “For what?” he asked honestly.
“To eat!” he chuckled as he continued his clumsy pace down the stairs.
Megumi noticed the pungent smell of the food as soon as they reached the dining hall. The other children were shuffled into a crooked line. Kids were chatting about their day, many spoke of their studies. The staff yelled obnoxiously, ordering kids around. Both boys fell into line. Megumi really wasn’t hungry but of course “Man my stomach sounds like a beast!” Megumi looked over his shoulder. Yuuji was hugging his stomach with a huge smile.
Megumi looked forward again. He couldn’t piece together why this boy's presence comforted him, but he wasn’t complaining. At the same time, though, he was scared to get too close. He was used to pushing everyone away. He had only spent a small amount of time with Itadori Yuuji, so why? Why did he feel the need to keep him safe?
“Hey Fushiguro, do you like the food here?”
Megumi gave a straightforward answer without looking back “No.” There was an uncomfortable moment of silence as they grabbed their trays.
Before Yuuji could ask why not, a tall boy with dark hair harshly bumped Megumi out of the way and cut in front of him. Megumi said nothing.
“Hey… Fushiguro, that was mean. Aren't you gonna tell him to apologize?" Meguimi didn’t respond, instead just shrugged. Yuuji walked up to the tall boy. “Hey excuse me!”
The boy with dark hair looked down to Yuuji “What do you want, kid?”
Yuuji didn’t seem intimated as he spoke.“That was rude, you just cut in front of my friend.”
Megumi didn’t process the argument between the two boys. ‘Friend’? Yuuji was his friend? That was so quick, how could he possibly know that they were friends? There were so many questions running through his mind, when he finally snapped back to reality, yuji had been flicked on the forehead and shooed away.
He returned to Megumi's side “Ouchyy, that was useless" he whined, rubbing his forehead.
“That’s why I didn’t say anything. You'll have to get used to it, Itadori. They don’t care about the rules here.”
He looked up at Megumi, his eyebrows up to his hairline. “But why? Rules are good right?” His voice carried genuine concern.
“Yeah, I guess, but take a look around.” Megumi replied with a wave of his hand.
Yuuji actively looked around the room. “I don’t get it.” He stated honestly.
Megumi let out a defeated sigh. “Forget it.”
-
After they grabbed their food, they searched for any available seats. “Uh, I guess I'll go find a place to sit, I'm sure you have your own friends waiting for you.” Yuuji murmured as he looked for any open tables.
Megumi paused, stuttering for the right words. “Well… I mean I don't really have friends, but if you don’t wanna sit with me or whatever then good luck finding a free table I guess.”
Yuuji gave him that look again, head tilted in confusion. God what was it about him? Maybe his eyes, Megumi thought. They were so big and pure. They reminded him of autumn, the color vibrant and warm. “Wait, no! I wanna sit with you Fushiguro!”
Megumi felt the tips of his ears heat up. Yuuji was so loud, Megumi would have been embarrassed if everyone else wasn't so lost in conversation.
“Whatever, let's go sit by the window,” he mumbled. making his way to the seat in the corner where the large, shaded window was. They pulled out their respective chairs, the screeches echoed throughout the dining hall. Megumi frowned at the dry meat and rice on his plate.
Yuuji, on the other hand, was rather enjoying himself. “Fushiguro?” he said in between bites. “Not hungry?”
Megumi stared at him.
Honestly, this kid was so strange.”Are you seriously eating that?”
Yuuji swallowed his final bite. “Yeah, ill eat anything really!” When he smiled, his eyes creased. He opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could suddenly he was drenched in milk.
“Pink haired freak!
“Itadori, are you okay?” Megumi asked, while glaring at the boy who just threw the box of milk at Yuuji. He sat there for a moment, his eyes blown wide in shock, pink hair dripping in milk. Then he was laughing so hard that tears formed in his eyes.
“Dude, what's so funny? that jerk just threw milk at you.”
Was Yuuji not aware of the fact that he was being picked on?
Yuuji waved his hands back and forth. “Hold on, hold on!” he gasped in between giggles. Megumi's face perfectly captured his confusion. Eyebrows furrowed, mouth open and head tilted.
When yuuji finally caught his breath, he wiped the tears away and began explaining. “I'm used to being picked on but I've never had milk chucked at me! It was so random im sorry.” he shook his head and milk went flying everywhere
“Ew gross! Stop you're getting it on me!” Yet his voice didn't display disgust or aggression, he was even fighting back laughter as Yuuji continued to fling milk everywhere.
“You’re so weird.” Megumi remarked, his lips quirked into a smile as he crossed his arms.
Megumi hated dinner, hated the food, hated the room, hated the kids and staff, but sitting next to this bizarre boy, who he had only met a few hours ago, he realized he didn't really mind it at that moment.
-
The boys cleaned up the milk mess, Megumi still upset that someone had made fun of Yuuji even though he had only just arrived, but Yuuji didn't seem bothered in the slightest so he tried to let it go. When they finished cleaning, dinner was almost over, but Yuuji convinced Megumi to at least eat some of the meat. He was reluctant to do so.
By the end of the night, all of the children were in bed. There were strict rules: that meant lights out by 9pm, no talking allowed. Unfortunately it might have been easier to ask Yuuji to glue his mouth shut.
“Fushiguro,” he whispered. Megumi was awake, his vision engulfed by the dark shadows of the room. He had never been bothered by the dark before.
“What?” he replied. He was worried they would get caught talking to each other.
“Im not sleepy, and it's scary in here.” He spoke meekly, and Megumi understood.
“Yeah… it'll be like that for a few weeks or so, but you'll get used to it eventually.”
There was some shuffling, before he spoke again. “Fushiguro, you don't have to, but could you tell me a bedtime story?”
Megumi stiffened in his bed. A bedtime story? Megumi wasn't sure if he was creative enough to just come up with a story on the spot. “Uh, ill try… it wont be good though.”
Yuuji sniffled, “That's okay.”
Megumi fidgeted with his sheets, searching his mind for any type of story he could create, he wasn't getting very far. He was about to give up completely and just tell Yuuji that he tried but he couldn't think of anything. Then he remembered. Before Tsumiki got sick, she would tell him a specific story before bed.
He took a soft breath before speaking. “There once was a young boy…” he began, making sure his voice was just loud enough for Yuuji to hear. “He would often dream about the sun, but every morning he woke up, only to look at the sun and be sad. He didn't know why, but it just didn't seem as pretty as it was in his dreams.Then one night he woke up and looked out his window, he saw a sun, oddly enough, in the middle of the night, at the edge of a hill, and smiled. He wanted to go and see it for himself.” Megumi paused to see if Yuuji was listening.
“Dont stop,” He murmured.
“So…” Mgeumi continued “He put on his coat and shoes, and he walked a very long way. But it was like the more he walked, the further the sun got. Eventually he did reach the top, only to be met with a large flower bud, not the sun, just a very bright flower. It was almost glowing with light. The boy was mesmerized by it, so he touched it, and when he did, the flower blossomed, and it became even more vibrant than before. Ever since that day, he took care of the flower, helping it grow. Eventually he built a house on the top of the hill, and admired the flower for the rest of his days.”
Megumi looked over again, exhaling. He felt like he missed parts of the story, but it didn't matter when he heard the soft snores of Yuuji fast asleep.
He wondered if Yuuji had actually enjoyed any of the story. A wave of emotion overcame him, telling it himself, had been a nice change. He missed his sister, but suddenly it seemed like everything would be alright now that he had Yuuji. It didn't necessarily matter if they had just met, his heart bloomed with the excitement of having a new, very kind friend.
That night, when Megumi curled up in his springy bed, he didn't cry. For the first time in a very long time he let sleep consume him, washing away all his fears.